Maine South starts slow but then rolls to defeat Glenbrook North
Once Maine South got out of its own way, it could deal with Glenbrook North.
The Hawks won the Central Suburban League South football game 42-3 Saturday at Wilson Field in Park Ridge.
Quarterback Luke Leongas completed 22 of 33 passes for 296 yards in three quarters before turning the offense over to Rowan Keefe. Leongas ran for one score and passed for 3 to Division I prospect Chris Petrucci.
Maine South (3-0, 3-0) committed 6 first-quarter penalties before unleashing its arsenal.
"Once we settled down then we started taking care of business and we got rolling," said Hawks coach David Inserra. "Got it to our playmakers, Mike Sajenko and Chris, he's a big target and Luke just settled down a little bit and played catch."
Leongas' quarterback sneak behind center Kris Geier and left guard Arthur Hoelscher got the Hawks on the board at 7:51 of the first quarter.
Glenbrook North (1-2, 1-2) countered with a nifty 66-yard double-pass, Spartans quarterback Avery Burow zipping a lateral to receiver Ryan Henschel, who found Zach Mendo down the left sideline. That set up Mike Cosentino's 26-yard field goal to come within 6-3 at 5:20 of the first quarter. That would be it for the Spartans.
"We just have to play better, and we've got to play better fast," said coach Matt Purdy.
"We've got six days before New Trier comes to our place. It's a preparation thing, it's them taking responsibility for watching the film and having a great week of practice, and that's something we'll do as a coaching staff. We'll pull it out of them," he said.
The Spartans' Aidan Casey, who later left the game with a knee injury, sacked Leongas to get the defense off the field. After that it was all Hawks.
Maine South scored on four straight possessions to end the first half. Petrucci scored on receptions of 5, 11 and 35 yards and Sajenko ran for 4 yards to enter halftime leading 32-3.
"He's an absolute animal, I love the kid," Leongas said of the 6-foot-4 Petrucci, who caught 5 passes for 69 yards. Johnny Sassan led the Hawks with 5 receptions for 95 yards and kicked a 26-yard field goal.
"We came out a little slow," Petrucci said, "but we got it together, so it's all good."
Drake Marquez's 37 yards rushing paced Glenbrook North. Burow added 32 yards rushing.
"If we go back and watch the film," said Glenbrook North safety Owen Cassell, "almost every single play we made a mistake on, whether it's from defense, missed tackles, a missed assignment or not playing together and having trust in our teammates out there on the field. We just have to have to be better and play together."